This Day in History: 2023-03-29

Nr. 435

GOAL LINE CONTROVERSY ENRAGES GERMANS (1966)

At the height of the Cold War, it was somewhat unusual to have a kind word for a Russian, but the England team did in a goal controversy that was to rage into the 21st century. On 30 July in the rooth minute of the 1966 World Cup final, and with the scores at 2-2, England midfielder Alan Ball crossed for striker Geoff Hurst, homing in on the near post, to hammer a shot towards the West German goal. It struck the underside of the bar, bounced down and then out of the goal – but on which side of the chalk line did it land? The nearest England player to the ball was Roger Hunt who, beheving it to be a goal, wheeled away in celebration, but many thought that he should have stayed to tap the ball back over the line. The furious Germans were adamant it was no goal and Swiss referee Gottfried Dienst was unsure. Enter Soviet linesman Tofik Bakhramov, who was very sure, and the goal was awarded, giving England a 3-2 lead to defend for the next 20 minutes. With television coverage in its relative infancy the action replays of the day failed to prove if the ball had crossed the line or not and even in the computer age 40 years on attempts to ascertain if the ball did indeed cross the line have failed to be conclusive and it remains a major talking point.

Geoff Hurst lashes the ball past Willi Schulz to score England’s highly controversial third goal.